JEFF EDELSTEIN: Guns in the house: Safe for children?

Maybe I’m an idiot, but I never really considered it before: Would I let my children play in a home that contained guns?

The question was brought to be by reader Eric Saperstein, who is a gun-owning NRA member, Second Amendment activist, shooting instructor and a man who lives with small children in his house.

And he wanted to introduce me to guns by taking me out shooting.

Now, I haven’t been shy about my stance on guns before, but just to put a fine point on it: I pretty much don’t get guns. Shooting for sport or food? Lovely. Fire away. But we need strict gun control measures, and, even more important, strict, bordering on draconian, gun crime laws. (And while I’m here, all you Second Amendment fans, you’ll never be able to convince me the Founding Fathers would have left well enough alone with the “right to bear arms” bit had machine guns and nuclear bombs been part of the Revolutionary arsenal.)

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Anyway, Saperstein wanted to take me out for a day of bang-banging. I thought about it, but in the end, decided not to do it. Reason was twofold: One, I didn’t want to, mostly because I have zero desire to handle a weapon that might easily blow my face off, and two … well, this is what I wrote to Saperstein: “... there’s little-to-no chance I’m going to come out of it writing a pro-gun piece. I don’t want to burn you, in short.”

Saperstein understood, and came back with what turns out to be a loaded question: How should a gun-owning parent respond if another parent asks if there’s guns in the house?

“ My answer: ‘Yes, I have firearms in my home; and to address your concerns they are secured and your children will not have access to or contact with them without your express permission,” Saperstein said.

I asked other gun-owning parents on Facebook, and got more or less the same basic answer.

Yes if asked, and usually a calm, measured reaction to it, with most everyone saying they’d explain the guns were locked and out of reach.

So theoretically, this should put my mind at ease.

But it doesn’t.

“When I was married my husband had rifles in the house for hunting I bought him a wood cabinet to show off the rifles,” said Mary Fink. “The ammo was kept at his parent’s house (for safety). We had three sons. As teens they would jimmy the locks and play with the rifles. At the time they did not know how I knew they did this. I also insisted they had to take the lessons the state makes available. I wanted them to respect and be knowledgeable.”

So Fink knew her kids were safe, but she also knew they knew how to get at the rifles.

And that scares the musket balls outta me.

Kids are curious and stupid, generally speaking. Not dumb-stupid, but stupid-stupid. Think back when you were a kid, a teen, a not-adult. How many stupid-stupid things did you do? I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count my tally.

Now, as far as I knew, my friends’ parents were not gun owners. Not once did I come across a gun at someone’s house. But if I did, is it possible I would’ve toyed with it? Yeah. It’s possible.

And it’s also possible I would’ve killed myself or someone else.

According to a U.S. General Accounting Office report, over 8 percent of unintentional shooting deaths each year had a 6-year-old or younger pulling the trigger. Each year, about 600 Americans die in accidental shootings. American children are 9 times more likely to die in a gun accident than other children in first world countries, according to research done by David Hemenway in his book “Private Guns, Public Health.”

Really scary stuff, especially for someone who has a 5-year-old boy who enjoys getting into things and is a pro at stupid-stupid.

So would I let him play in someone’s house that contains guns?

I’m leaning “no.”

I know I can’t protect my kids all the time, but I do have some control over their safety. And this seems like a not-so-terrible place to exert some of that control.

After all, being a parent does not automatically confer upon someone the status of “decent, smart, safe person.” Add “gun owner” to that list, and I’m taking a few steps back.

I’m not alone.

“No, my child would not be allowed to play inside a house with a gun, even secured,” said Jo Anne Smith via Facebook. “The homeowner has the right to bear arms, I have a responsibility to protect my child.”

“Never would I allow my 6-year-old son to play in someone’s home who has a gun,” said Tammy Lieberman-Frost. “Which is why I never allowed my son to play inside my neighbor’s house, especially when my son came home two years ago (when he was 4) and told me that the 6 year old boy who lived next door told him that he knew where the guns and bullets were.”

Other parents were less worked up.

“I wouldn’t mind if I knew the kids parents had guns in the house,” said Cheech Rhein. “A responsible parent is a responsible parent. That’s what I look for in my kids friends’ parents.”

A fair point, which brings me to Jay Diveley, a corrections officer.

Because if every gun owning parent was like Diveley, this conversation would be moot.

“My off duty weapon is never unsecured and if it is not on my person it is in a lock box that only my fingerprints can open,” he said.

I looked; biometric gun lock boxes can be had for less that $200. Seems like a no-brainer for gun owners. Can’t jimmy a biometric lock box.

So would I let my kids play at Diveley’s home? Yeah, I would.

So I guess my “no” of a few minutes ago is more of a “case by case” thing now, but there’s one thing you can be sure of: I plan on asking, thanks to Saperstein, who I’d like to give him the last word here. He wants to make sure gun owners aren’t idiots when it comes to dealing with nervous parents.

“My concern is many gun owners, many of my friends, respond defensively and immediately start with a plethora of ‘none of your business’ comments,” he said. “Nobody appreciates this, it doesn’t provide for any reassurance that you are responsible, nor does it paint a positive light of gun owners to those who may be on the fence. Our goal is not to create additional disparagement, our goal is firearms enthusiasts should be to promote ourselves and our rights in a sincerely positive manner at all times.”

Read Jeff Edelstein every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @jeffedelstein on Twitter.